Watch: An inter-caste marriage widens caste rifts in Kerala village

“This is the matter of our existence. We don’t know how long we will have to suffer if we don’t resist now,” says S Sivarajan, the local leader for the Dalits in Ambedkar colony.

The border village of Govindapuram, in the Palakkad district of Kerala, has been in the news for the past month, following reports of discrimination by caste Hindus — both upper and backward castes. The trouble began on 27 May, when a Chakliar (Dalit) girl married an Ezhava (backward caste) boy. Their wedding was solemnized in the presence of police officials, but the husband and wife were reportedly ordered to live separately without any communication for six months.

Since the wedding, the village is tense fearing a caste clash. The fray, which followed the inter-caste marriage, has united the caste Hindus against the Chaklia community.